Battle of Midway 83rd Anniversary with Carrier Planes and a new drawing of the USS Yorktown CV-5

Today, on my free coloring pages blog, we are remembering

The Battle of Midway - that occurred 83 years ago today.

These are some of the aircraft that were involved in the battle. 

 F-4F Wildcat Fighter Plane

The F-4F was the main carrier-based United States Navy fighter.  The plane in the distance is a Japanese Zero fighter.  It was a great fighter but the Zero was lightly armored so the American pilots learned how to take advantage of this weakness.  But the Zero shot down many American planes at Midway.

Devastator TBD Torpedo Bomber

These planes were obsolete, and the crews paid a terrible price. They did not make a single successful torpedo hit, but they DID draw down the Japanese fighter cover so that when the dive bombers attacked, there were no Japanese Zero fighters to hinder them. 

Dauntless Dive Bomber

This is the plane that finally did the damage to the Japanese aircraft carriers.  In a span of only about five minutes, they fatally damaged 3 fleet carriers.  A few hours later, they fatally damaged the fourth and final Japanese carrier.  One American aircraft carrier was also damaged by bombs and torpedoes and finally sunk by a Japanese submarine.  This aircraft carrier was the Yorktown.  The Yorktown can be seen in the distance of the Torpedo Bomber drawing.  AND the Yorktown, CV-5, is the main subject of the drawing below. 

USS Yorktown CV-5

(This is the one new drawing today.)

The USS Yorktown was a fleet carrier and was the only US carrier hit in the Battle of Midway.  She had been damaged at the Battle of the Coral Sea, but repairmen were miraculously able to repair her in time for the battle.  Some personnel were still onboard when she sailed.  So when the Japanese first hit it with bombs, the sailors (with help from the reapairmen) were able to repair the ship well enough in a few hours to be operational.  When the next wave of Japanese bombers hit her, they thought it was an undamaged second aircraft carrier.  Sadly, she was hit with two torpedo bombers' torpedoes, and the ship had to be abandoned.  Then later, she was spotted and torpedoed by a Japanese submarine.  By the way, dive bombers from the Yorktown fatally hit the Japanese carrier Soryu.

NOTE: All these drawings are found on the "Vehicles and Military Vehicles" page of this blog.  Just click on the button and scroll down to find the correct drawing.  The Yorktown drawing will be at the end of the list or near it if you are accessing this during the summer of 2025.